Before I Called You Mine

by Nicole Deese

Every adoption story looks different, but every one of our children joined our family on the perfect day. God is always on time.”

“Because folding your laundry is how we can love you best today.”

My testimony can be summed up in one phrase: God’s way is rarely easy, but it’s always better than mine.”

It made me believe that He might have a plan for my life, too. That maybe the very things I’ve been so afraid to say yes to all these years are the very things He wants me to trust Him with.”

“God doesn’t trick His children. He loves us, and everything He asks of us, or allows us to walk through, has a purpose.”

I’d convinced myself for years that words like that—passionately scripted lines spoken from the mouths of my favorite movie actors and book characters—would never be directed at me. That my specific journey wouldn’t include a sweeping romantic gesture or a heart-stopping rescue. And I was okay with that—I was prepared for that. Which meant that in no way was I prepared for this.

Love isn’t about instant gratification, it’s about showing up for the journey and riding out all the twists and turns along the way . . . together.”